Jamba 1.5 Mini (non-reasoning)

Cost-Effective, High-Throughput Foundation Model

Jamba 1.5 Mini (non-reasoning)

Jamba 1.5 Mini offers a compelling blend of affordability and a massive context window, positioning it as a strong contender for high-volume, low-complexity tasks.

AI21 LabsOpen License256k ContextCost-OptimizedHigh ThroughputFoundational Model

Jamba 1.5 Mini, from AI21 Labs, emerges as a notable entry in the landscape of large language models, particularly for applications where cost-efficiency and a substantial context window are paramount. While it ranks lower on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, indicating it's not designed for complex reasoning tasks, its competitive pricing and open license make it an attractive option for developers and businesses looking to integrate foundational AI capabilities without incurring prohibitive costs.

This model is engineered to handle large volumes of text, boasting an impressive 256k token context window. This capacity allows it to process and generate extensive documents, code, or conversational histories, making it suitable for tasks like summarization of long articles, content generation based on large datasets, or maintaining context in extended dialogue systems. Its knowledge base extends up to March 2024, ensuring a relatively up-to-date understanding of the world.

Our benchmarking reveals that Jamba 1.5 Mini is among the most affordably priced models in its class, especially when compared to other open-weight, non-reasoning models of similar scale. With input tokens priced at $0.20 per million and output tokens at $0.40 per million, it offers a cost structure that encourages broad adoption. However, users should be mindful that its lower intelligence score means it excels at tasks requiring factual recall, pattern recognition, and text manipulation rather than deep analytical thought or creative problem-solving.

Provider performance for Jamba 1.5 Mini shows interesting variations. Google Vertex consistently delivers the fastest output speeds (up to 81 tokens/s) and lowest latencies (0.40s Time to First Token), making it the go-to choice for real-time or performance-critical applications. Amazon Bedrock also offers competitive pricing and solid performance, providing a viable alternative. Understanding these provider-specific nuances is crucial for optimizing both the performance and cost-effectiveness of deploying Jamba 1.5 Mini in production environments.

Scoreboard

Intelligence

4 (29 / 33)

Jamba 1.5 Mini scores 4 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it at the lower end among comparable models (averaging 22). It is not designed for complex reasoning.
Output speed

N/A

Model-wide speed not directly benchmarked; provider speeds vary significantly (e.g., Google Vertex at 81 t/s).
Input price

$0.20 /M tokens

Among the most competitive for input tokens, matching the average for its class.
Output price

$0.40 /M tokens

Moderately priced, significantly below the average of $0.54 for output tokens.
Verbosity signal

N/A

Verbosity metrics for this model are not available in our current benchmarks.
Provider latency

0.40 s

Achievable with optimized providers like Google Vertex, offering excellent Time to First Token.

Technical specifications

Spec Details
Owner AI21 Labs
License Open
Context Window 256k tokens
Knowledge Cutoff March 2024
Model Type Foundational, Non-Reasoning
Intelligence Index 4 / 33 (Rank #29)
Input Token Price $0.20 / 1M tokens
Output Token Price $0.40 / 1M tokens
Fastest Output Speed 81 t/s (Google Vertex)
Lowest Latency (TTFT) 0.40s (Google Vertex)
Blended Price (Lowest) $0.25 / 1M tokens

What stands out beyond the scoreboard

Where this model wins
  • **Exceptional Cost-Efficiency:** Offers highly competitive pricing for both input and output tokens, making it ideal for budget-conscious applications.
  • **Massive Context Window:** A 256k token context window enables processing and generating extremely long documents or maintaining extensive conversational history.
  • **Open License Flexibility:** Its open license provides developers with greater freedom for deployment and integration into various systems.
  • **High Throughput Potential:** When paired with optimized providers like Google Vertex, it can achieve impressive output speeds for high-volume content generation.
  • **Suitable for Foundational Tasks:** Excels at tasks like summarization, translation, content generation, and data extraction where complex reasoning is not the primary requirement.
Where costs sneak up
  • **Limited Reasoning Capabilities:** Its low intelligence score means it struggles with complex analytical tasks, potentially leading to unsatisfactory results or requiring extensive prompt engineering.
  • **Provider Dependency for Performance:** Optimal speed and latency are heavily dependent on the chosen API provider; generic deployments might not achieve benchmarked performance.
  • **Volume-Based Cost Accumulation:** Despite low per-token prices, high-volume usage, especially with its large context window, can still lead to significant overall costs if not managed.
  • **Potential for Over-Generation:** Without careful prompting, its foundational nature might lead to verbose or repetitive outputs, increasing output token usage and costs.
  • **Lack of Advanced Features:** May lack specialized features or fine-tuning capabilities found in more advanced, higher-intelligence models, limiting its utility for niche applications.

Provider pick

Choosing the right API provider for Jamba 1.5 Mini is crucial for balancing performance and cost. Our benchmarks highlight distinct advantages across Amazon Bedrock and Google Vertex, allowing you to align your provider choice with your primary operational priorities.

Priority Pick Why Tradeoff to accept
**Lowest Latency** Google Vertex Achieves the lowest Time to First Token (TTFT) at 0.40s, ideal for real-time interactive applications. While still very fast, its output speed (81 t/s) is slightly less than its peak potential in some scenarios.
**Highest Output Speed** Google Vertex Delivers the fastest output at 81 tokens/s, perfect for high-volume content generation. Blended price is competitive but not necessarily the absolute lowest for all usage patterns.
**Lowest Blended Price** Amazon Bedrock / Google Vertex Both providers offer an identical blended price of $0.25 per million tokens, making them equally cost-effective overall. Amazon has higher latency (0.75s) and lower output speed (52 t/s) compared to Google Vertex.
**Lowest Input Price** Amazon Bedrock / Google Vertex Both offer the lowest input token price at $0.20 per million tokens. Output token price is also identical ($0.40/M), so other factors like speed and latency become differentiators.

Note: Performance metrics are based on specific benchmark conditions and may vary with different workloads, prompt structures, and network conditions.

Real workloads cost table

Understanding the real-world cost implications of Jamba 1.5 Mini requires looking beyond per-token prices. Here are a few common scenarios and their estimated costs, assuming optimal provider selection for the task.

Scenario Input Output What it represents Estimated cost
**Long Document Summarization** 100,000 input tokens (e.g., a large report) 5,000 output tokens (concise summary) Processing and summarizing extensive textual content. ~$0.22 (Input: $0.20, Output: $0.02)
**Customer Support Chatbot (Extended Session)** 5,000 input tokens (user query + chat history) 500 output tokens (response) Handling a detailed customer interaction over multiple turns. ~$0.012 (Input: $0.01, Output: $0.002)
**Content Generation (Blog Post)** 1,000 input tokens (prompt + outline) 2,000 output tokens (full article) Generating a medium-length blog post or marketing copy. ~$0.01 (Input: $0.002, Output: $0.008)
**Data Extraction from Legal Contracts** 200,000 input tokens (multiple contracts) 10,000 output tokens (extracted key data) Automating the extraction of specific clauses or entities from legal documents. ~$0.44 (Input: $0.40, Output: $0.04)
**Code Generation/Refactoring** 10,000 input tokens (existing code + request) 3,000 output tokens (new/refactored code) Assisting developers with code snippets or minor refactoring tasks. ~$0.032 (Input: $0.02, Output: $0.012)

These scenarios illustrate that while Jamba 1.5 Mini's per-token costs are low, the total cost scales directly with the volume of tokens processed. Its large context window, while powerful, necessitates careful management to avoid unnecessary input token consumption, especially for tasks that don't require the full context.

How to control cost (a practical playbook)

Optimizing costs with Jamba 1.5 Mini involves strategic prompting, efficient data handling, and smart provider selection. Here are key strategies to maximize value.

Prompt Engineering for Efficiency

Given Jamba 1.5 Mini's foundational nature, precise and concise prompting is paramount. Avoid overly verbose instructions that consume input tokens without adding value, and guide the model towards succinct outputs.

  • **Be Explicit:** Clearly define the desired output format and length.
  • **Use Few-Shot Examples:** Provide examples to demonstrate the expected output, reducing the need for lengthy instructions.
  • **Iterative Refinement:** Test prompts with small inputs to gauge output quality and token usage before scaling.
  • **Output Constraints:** Ask the model to limit its output to a specific number of sentences, paragraphs, or bullet points.
Context Window Management

The 256k context window is a powerful feature, but using it indiscriminately can lead to higher input costs. Only include necessary information in the prompt.

  • **Summarize History:** For long conversations, summarize past turns rather than sending the entire transcript with each new query.
  • **Chunking Large Documents:** If only specific sections of a document are relevant, extract and send only those chunks instead of the entire document.
  • **Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG):** Pair Jamba 1.5 Mini with a retrieval system to fetch only the most relevant information, minimizing input tokens.
  • **Dynamic Context:** Adjust the amount of context sent based on the complexity or stage of the task.
Strategic Provider Selection

As our benchmarks show, provider choice significantly impacts performance and cost. Match your provider to your primary objective.

  • **For Speed & Latency:** Prioritize Google Vertex for real-time applications and high-throughput needs.
  • **For Balanced Cost:** Both Amazon Bedrock and Google Vertex offer competitive blended pricing; consider other factors like ecosystem integration.
  • **Multi-Cloud Strategy:** For critical applications, consider a multi-cloud approach to leverage the strengths of different providers and ensure redundancy.
  • **Monitor Provider Updates:** API providers frequently update their models and pricing; stay informed to adapt your strategy.
Output Token Optimization

While output tokens are cheaper than input, they still contribute significantly to overall costs. Minimize unnecessary verbosity.

  • **Concise Instructions:** Explicitly ask for brief, to-the-point answers.
  • **Structured Outputs:** Request JSON or bulleted lists when possible to reduce conversational filler.
  • **Post-Processing:** Implement a post-processing step to trim or filter redundant information from the model's output.
  • **Feedback Loops:** Analyze model outputs for verbosity and refine prompts based on observed token usage.

FAQ

What is Jamba 1.5 Mini best suited for?

Jamba 1.5 Mini excels at high-volume, foundational language tasks that do not require complex reasoning. This includes summarization of long documents, content generation (e.g., articles, marketing copy), data extraction, translation, and maintaining extensive conversational context in chatbots. Its large 256k context window makes it particularly powerful for processing and generating very long texts.

How does Jamba 1.5 Mini compare to more intelligent models?

Jamba 1.5 Mini scores lower on intelligence benchmarks (4 out of 33 models), indicating it is not designed for advanced reasoning, problem-solving, or highly creative tasks. More intelligent models typically offer superior performance on complex analytical challenges, nuanced understanding, and sophisticated content generation. However, Jamba 1.5 Mini compensates with significantly lower costs and a larger context window, making it a more economical choice for tasks within its capabilities.

What is the significance of its 256k token context window?

A 256k token context window allows Jamba 1.5 Mini to process and generate extremely long sequences of text. This means it can handle entire books, extensive codebases, or very long chat histories within a single prompt. This is a major advantage for applications requiring deep contextual understanding over extended interactions or large documents, reducing the need for complex chunking or summarization strategies before input.

Which API provider offers the best performance for Jamba 1.5 Mini?

Our benchmarks indicate that Google Vertex generally offers the best performance for Jamba 1.5 Mini, achieving the lowest latency (0.40s TTFT) and highest output speed (81 tokens/s). Amazon Bedrock also provides competitive pricing and solid performance, making it a viable alternative. The 'best' provider ultimately depends on your specific priorities: Google Vertex for speed/latency, and both for cost-efficiency.

How can I minimize costs when using Jamba 1.5 Mini?

To minimize costs, focus on efficient prompt engineering to reduce unnecessary input and output tokens. Be explicit about desired output length and format. Strategically manage the context window by only including relevant information. Consider using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to fetch precise data rather than feeding entire documents. Finally, choose the API provider that best aligns with your performance and cost priorities for each specific workload.

Is Jamba 1.5 Mini suitable for real-time applications?

Yes, Jamba 1.5 Mini can be suitable for real-time applications, especially when deployed via optimized providers like Google Vertex, which offers a Time to First Token (TTFT) of just 0.40 seconds. This low latency makes it viable for interactive experiences where quick responses are critical, such as chatbots or dynamic content generation, provided the tasks align with its foundational capabilities.

What is the knowledge cutoff for Jamba 1.5 Mini?

Jamba 1.5 Mini's knowledge base extends up to March 2024. This means it has been trained on data available up to that period and may not have information on events or developments that occurred after March 2024. For tasks requiring the most current information, it may need to be augmented with real-time data retrieval mechanisms.


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